Review: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Why did I pick it up?
Final book to finish off the Harry Potter series. I finished it on March 12 which means I took a little less than two months from start to finish.
Funny story: right after I finished reading it and moved onto the trilogy I'm reading now I saw someone at work had started reading this one. Same cover and everything. It was fun.

The Review of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling:
Know how I've been complaining about the same pattern for the last six books? Well it's broken! Sort of. We do start out with a  scene of Voldemort torturing some poor soul who we later find out is Hogwart's Muggle Studies teacher.

Harry spends some time cleaning out his room at the Dursley's house and examining the paper which has Dumbledore's eulogy and an article with an interview with Rita Skeeter about her new book that apparently reveals the truth about Dumbledore. Harry's obviously upset over the paper but begins to pack his bags to leave.

The Dursleys are leaving too as the moment Harry turns 17 the protection on the house will be gone and the Dursleys could be in trouble. It was nice to see Dudley giving Harry a nice good bye. I was disappointed nothing further was taken with the Dursleys here. They could have been mentioned in the end but this is the last we see or even hear of them.

Harry is to be brought to the Burrow for safe keeping and a group of witches and wizards will be pairing off to make fake Harry's and hopefully distract from the real one. This is where the deaths begin. Harry and the group leave but are attacked because Snape knows when Harry's supposed to leave and obviously told Voldemort. Hedwig is killed in the ensuing battle but Harry does manage to escape after meeting Tonk's parents. He gets to the Burrow to find out Mad Eye Moody was also killed and George Weasley lost an ear.

The Minister of Magic comes to deliver the gifts Harry, Ron, and Hermione received from Dumbledore: the first Snich Harry caught, the Deluminator, and a book of fairy tails in that order. Harry was also supposed to get the Sword of Gryffindor but the Minister wouldn't hand it over. Yes all of these are important. ;)

The preparations for Bill and Fleur's wedding take place as normal and Harry is disguised. He does run into Krum who is peeved at Luna's father for wearing some kind of evil symbol. The wedding is broken up by the Death Eaters who have taken over the ministry. Harry, Hermione, and Ron escape to Sirus' old place (which he inherited) and camp out there for a while. Thanks to Hermione's quick thinking (and a convenience plot hole) she managed to bring all their things with them in a bottomless purse.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione live in the musty old house until figuring out Kreacher helped Regulus (Sirus' brother) destroy the original locket/Horcrux Dumbledore had died for. Harry starts being nice to Kreacher and Kreacher is kind in return. He brings them the dude who stole the locket and they realize they need Gryffindor's sword to break it. The trio leave the house but are caught on the way back and have to begin backpacking through England as they can no longer stay in one spot.

On their travels Ron ends up leaving the group because he had hoped Harry had a better plan in looking for the Horcruxes. Hermione and Harry continue on their travels and Harry's wand ends up breaking when the duo fall into a trap. Harry is lead to a pool where Gryffindor's sword is by a patroneous doe (important point) and almost dies but Ron saves him. They figure out what the Deathly Hallows are: the Elder Wand, Harry's invisibility cloak, and the resurrection stone. Harry knows Voldermort is going after the Elder Wand so he can beat Harry once and for all.

They end up getting captured by Death Eaters but Hermione disguises Harry and Dobby comes to save the group. Harry and Ron go to save Hermione who was separated from them (fun plot point so you can see for yourself) and in their escape they manage to steal two wands. Dobby is killed on their way out.
More happens here but Voldermort does end up possessing the Elder Wand. We also see Snape was the one who sent the doe patroneous to lead Harry to the sword. And Snape gives Harry the memories of what transpired in all of Snape's life after Voldemort gets his snake to kill Snape. Harry finds out the truth about everything. Oh, did I mentioned they've made it all the way to Hogwarts now and the school is where the final battle takes place?

It makes sense in a way. Everything began there and what better battle ground. Voldemort's death was anti-climatic. His killing curse bounced back on him and that was that. There is a bit of a death count: Lupin, Tonks (who were married and just had a kid), and Fred. Neville saved part of the day by beheading Voldemort's snake with Gryffindor's sword so that was pretty cool.

Then we hit the epilogue. We find out Ron and Hermione are married with kids, Harry and Ginny are married with three kids, and Hell, even Draco got married. Despite everything, the Malfoys are still a-okay to be out and about. Now, I do see why they weren't killed before (plot devices anyone?) but still. This family has shown a willingness to go to the dark side and they're walking around like nothing happened. Like they didn't help kill so many people and side with the bad guy. It's annoying. I mean, they didn't even get a slap on the wrist.

Again, no mention of the Dursleys. No mention on how George is doing without Fred or if he continued the joke shop. No mention of Hagrid, who the headmaster is for Hogwarts, nothing. After all the focus on the school over 7 books all we know is Neville is a teacher there. Also: Harry's worked up to be this decent wizard, said he was going to be a Auror (job's kind of mote without Death eaters anyway) and has a talent for Quiddich but do we know what he does for work? Nope. We don't know anything about the three except they got married and are sending their kids off to Hogwarts.

Even just one more paragraph would have answered all those questions. Yeah, great to know "all was well" but how well? Did George ever get married? How are the rest of the Weasleys? What about Luna and the other Gryffindors? The Dursleys? Kreacher and the House Elves?

The Negatives:

Besides those mentioned above, for a book pegged at young adults there is a lot of death in here. I find this holds true for Hunger Games and a few other popular series for young adults. I mean, I get the world can't be all peachy but Harry Potter is originally pegged for kids under 10. Yeah, they would've grown up by the seventh book but still.

Also: the neat little bow wasn't so neat. There are still points left uncovered after the epilogue which I guess is okay. Do we need to know who runs the school or what the trio is doing? I guess not but after seven books I would've liked to know something besides marriage and children. Hell, we don't even know what happens to Hagrid and his giant half-brother.

Were all the deaths needed? Not really. Hedwig, Mad Eye, Dobby, and Snape: yes. Fred, Lupin, and Tonks? Nope. Yeah people die in war but did we really need to make another orphaned kid right after Lupin finally becomes happy? Did we really need to rip apart the twins like that to show the horrors of this war? Not really. We knew the horrors. We saw the bodies in the Great Hall. We saw Lavender and Colin. Crabbe (though technically a bad guy) a bunch of death eaters, goblins, and the 50 dead Hogwarts students were all enough.

The other thing that bugs me is the way Harry treats the Deathly Hallows. He leaves the resurrection stone somewhere in the forest where anyone with enough balls can find it. He reburies the Elder Wand with no protection and he likely still has the cloak but we're never told. These are objects of immense power and he leaves them lying around. COME ON. Who's to say someone's NOT going to go grab the Elder Wand, come kill you with it, then take over the world?

That sucker should have been broken. The rock should've been tossed in the middle of the freaking ocean. And the cloak? Yeah, that's not as dangerous unless someone with the wrong ideas grabs it. I mean really. Most powerful objects in the world and just left around like nothing.

The book itself was quite dark and comparing this last one to the first one is like moon and sun. You'd never think book 1 could have developed into this theme-wise. I mean yeah, Voldemort would have eventually had to die and Harry would have had to suffer loss but not to this proportion, not in a book for kids.

Final Review: 3/5 for adults, 2/5 for the intended audience.

Until next time thoughts, comments, rages, rants, questions, and out-right insults can be directed to the comments section.

Review: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Why did I pick it up?

Because it continues from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and I'll be damned if I ever start a series and don't finish it. I started this one on January 26th and finished it on January 28th using mainly breaks at the new job and an hour or so after work. It took about three or four hours all together.

The Review of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by JK Rowling:

 Again, this is a continuation. When we left Harry in Philosopher's Stone he was heading back home for the summer with his foster muggle parents who hate him. We pick up while he's still there and we've found out the muggles are afraid of him and rightfully so. Harry now knows how to do magic, something they don't believe in and fear.

The fear does cause Dudley, Harry's biggest bully, to go a little easier on him since Dudley's afraid Harry will do something. A house elf (Dobby) appears to tell Harry not to go back to Hogwarts which of course Harry refuses to do. Dobby accidently reveals Harry's not allowed to do magic in the muggle world so the Dudley's lock him in a room, start starving him and his owl, and make life miserable again for him. Fortunately Ron and his twin brothers Fred and George break him out of his house with their father's illegal flying car and take him back home with them.

Ten points for saving Harry from being starved and treated miserably. Minus 100 a piece for stealing a car that's illegal in the first place. This is made especially worse since the Weasley's were about to go see what was wrong with Harry and not responding to Ron's letters the NEXT DAY.

Harry enjoys living with the Weasley's, goes to buy his second year gear and ends up in the wrong place at the right time. The common tread in this book is that Harry (and Ron or Hermione) always seem to end up in the wrong place at the right time. They stumble (literally) upon things they shouldn't know like with Harry seeing Draco's father selling off some important items. There's also the time they overhear of Dumbledore's forced sabbatical and Hagrid being taken away under suspicion of opening the Chamber of Secrets.

And when they go to spy on Draco thinking he's the one who opened the chamber they find out about Draco's dads secret stash of stuff as well as Ron's dad being under inquiry for the whole magic-ing a car thing. Yes, the car the twins flew to save Harry. The same car Harry and Ron use to get to Hogwarts because Dobby prevents Harry from getting through Gate 9 and 3/4s. That incident is what causes Ron's dad to be put under inquiry by the way.

The worst part is, they had an owl and could have easily sent along a message that they couldn't get through the gate instead of you know, stealing an illegal car and using magic in front of muggles thus leaving Ron's parents stranded at the train station with no knowledge of how to get home by muggle ways.

Then there's the whole part about Harry not telling Dumbledore all that's going on (the hissing sounds he's hearing, the suspicions he has about the events going on in Hogwarts, etc.) and just continuing on his merry way in keeping secrets from the person who could help him and would totally understand what's going on.

This is what's annoying me the most about these books. Harry's keeping secrets and breaking HUGE rules but keeps coming out unpunished and relatively unscathed. It's kind of sending a message to kids in "hey, you can lie or break rules so long as you're saving the world." Yes, but to a point. I get the "it's for the greater good "concept and super heroes do it all the time but the amount of times Harry is doing it starts to get a little suspicious.

And then the car saves them from being eaten by spiders, Harry figures out how all this connects, and kills a Basilisk with a sword that appeared out of the Sorting Hat Dumbledore sent to him with Dumbledore's pet phoenix. Really? I mean, yeah send the one bird that can heal Harry from a Basilisk and the one object that can give Harry a magical sword only Gryffindor's can hold...urg.

There's coincidence and then there's...arg. I'm starting to see why these books are meant for people under the age of 12. Don't get me wrong: I still ENJOYED reading the book overall but if I wasn't an over 20-year-old who hadn't read hundreds of fantasy and sci-fi books I would be enjoying it a lot more.

Anyway, Harry saves the day and as in the first book: heads back home with the Dursley's to a horrible summer. Except wait, didn't Tom Riddle show Harry that Harry could have stayed at Hogwarts over the summer? And don't you think the Weasley's would have invited Harry to stay? *headdesk*

OH! The Sorting Hat putting Harry in Gryffindor is mentioned again. This time Dumbledore gives an epic quote that feels kind of wasted considering again, all Harry did was say "Please not Slytherin" and the Sorting Hat was all "Oh, okay." I mean I get Harry convinced the hat because it's the hat's job to put people in the proper house. I just don't see Harry thinking "please not Slytherin" as a convincing argument. And what was up with Lockheart as a character? He was just a device to distract Harry and allow the group to get the book out of the library to make an illegal potion.

Oh and a whole bunch of Hermione being all rule-breaky which isn't a part of her character at all. It's the Harry Effect I guess...

Would I read Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets again?

Yeah probably. It's a nice, light read that's still entertaining when you're not thinking about the strings tying too neatly. I'm also waiting for someone to die with baited breath. KILL YOUR DARLINGS, ROWLING! KILL THEM ALL! *insert evil laughter* Sorry. I've obviously read too much Song of Ice and Fire.

The Negatives

Besides the aforementioned over-coincidence, lying, breaking rules, etc: not much. So again, to the 1-star reviews.

One person compared Harry Potter to Song of Ice and Fire. Why? Because "read Game of Thrones if you want a real series" Um. First: It's Song of Ice and Fire, not Game of Thrones. GoT is the TELEVISION SHOW. Second: COMPLETELY different intended audience. Like MILES different. So no, a 12 or under should not read SoIF if they want a real series. And the adults don't have to either if they don't want to. It's called personal preference and opinion and *le gasp* some adults out there aren't big readers so couldn't tackle something like SoIF if they buy the CDS to listen to Harry Potter.

Speaking of, apparently the audio books still suck, Pottermore is still crap, and the books are being delivered in horrible condition. I bought my Harry Potter series used so I expect them looking worn. When you're buying new: you expect new. I don't see why this issue hasn't been resolved.

As many reviewers point out: Good guys can lie, break rules, etc and not get punished but when a bad guy lies, breaks rules, etc then he is punished. So hey, as long as the ends justify the means it's all good. Not a good lesson for kids. Rules are rules and anyone who breaks them should be punished in some sense of the word.

The "WITCHCRAFT IS EVIL!" 1-stars were amusing as all Hell. I don't see how it puts down family values since the Weasley Family is all about being a family: standing up for each other, caring about each other, teasing your older/younger siblings, looking after each other, etc. This is one thing Rowling does exceptionally well: the Weasley Family.

Then there's the people saying it's too long. Again, it's a little over 300 pages which is average when it comes to pre-teen fantasy. Yes, I am aware of how wrong that might sound. Mind out of the gutters folks. Anyway, for the reviewer who told people to go read SoIF for a real series: these poor people thinking Harry Potter is long would die.

There are a lot of comparisons to Lord of the Rings and C.S Lewis. I say again: DIFFERENT AUDIENCES. Jeez. Then there's the people who say they don't read fantasy so don't like the book. *headdesk* There are a lot of "recycled the plot from book 1" which is true but again: book meant for people under 10 who are just starting to get heavy into reading so they don't notice these things. I think the adults (including me) reading this series and who have read a lot over the years have to remember this is a book for children, not well-read, avid reading adults.

Final review: 2/5 for a voracious adult, 4.5/5 for a child. Best features: THIS QUOTE "It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities" from Dumbledore and the interactions of the Weasley family with each other.

Until next time: thoughts, comments, rages, rants, questions, and out-right insults can be directed to the comments section.

Review: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

Why did I pick it up?

Everyone else in the world has read it and there isn't a website you can go to that won't eventually contain some mention of Harry Potter. Go to iwastesomuchtime.com and you'll find Potter-heads talking about the books and thanking Rowling. Go to fmylife.com and you'll find people complaining about their lovers dragging them to movie premiers or conventions. The cheezburger conglomerate of websites has one fully dedicated to Harry Potter and it's mentioned in RageComics, WebComics and various others. Hell, there's a site associated with "Taste of Awesome" that has "Taste of Harry Potter" with memes and other stuff.

I ignored the entire explosion for as long as humanly possible. I didn't even buy the books until last year and even so they were from a used bookstore. For some reason it took a while to find the second book. I would have read it sooner but I was in the middle of ploughing through the Song of Ice and Fire series then became series-overloaded and read a bunch of stand-alones.

I finally cracked open the spine of Philosopher's Stone because I didn't want to continue in what I thought was a stand-alone but turned out to be book 1 of 7. Anyway, I started it on National Reading Day (Jan 24) while waiting to meet up with a friend and finished it Sunday Jan 25 in the morning.

Before we continue let it be known I am forming these opinions from (sort of) two points of view: 1) An avid reader who's lost count somewhere around book 2000 of how much she's actually read 2) A first time reader. Big difference of opinion between the two? Yep. Shall we?

The Review of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling:

If you don't know what this series is about by now then dig yourself out from under your rock and Google it. I kid. The book opens with the celebration of Voldemort disappearing through the eyes of the Muggle family the Dursley's. We find out the Potters are related to the Dursley's through Petunia Dursley. The Potters die and Harry is left on the doorstep of the Dursley household by Hagrid in thanks to Dumbledore.

Harry grows up as most kids do but he's forced to live in a cupboard, is barely allowed food, and isn't allowed anything his annoyingly spoiled rotten cousin Dudley is allowed. I took a step back here and thought that someone in this poor kid's school should have noticed some form abuse but it was never mentioned.

I mean, Harry was wearing hand-me-downs that obviously didn't fit him, was being beat up, had glasses that were taped together and was half-starved. You would think a teacher might have become suspicious of something. But no, Harry lives in Hell until his 11th birthday.

Then the letters are delivered. And delivered. And delivered which was freaking hilarious. Vernon's attempts to prevent Harry from finding out he's a wizard are comical and the (second) introduction of Hagrid is awesome.

Harry realizing he's a wizard and the entire scene about buying his supplies and getting to Hogwarts was well described. The magic has rules, it has to be taught, their are different veins of it, and it's complex. It's a good magic system and works for the book.

Admittedly I knew kind of how the book ends and who the minor bad guy was. It was still cleverly hidden under the guise of Snape being the one out to get Harry during Harry's first year at Hogwarts. Another thing that bugged me is the simple fact of people saying Harry convinced the Sorting Hat to put him in Gryffindor. All Harry did was think "Anything but Slytherin" and the Hat said "Oh, okay, Gryffindor then." There was no convincing and no arguing between the two.

You can kind of guess someone is leading Harry along in the discovery of who's trying to swipe the philosopher's stone and how he finds out in the first place. We find out it was all Dumbledore in the end which I suspected. It still made for an entertaining read, especially watching these kids figure things out and put the pieces together.

It did strike me as odd to remember these kids are only 11. Hermione seems way too brilliant to be only 11. And magic or not, what school let's kids wander about without guides when there's a random missing stair in the middle of a stairwell? It seemed at times the group was more akin to middle or later teens than pre-teen, especially Harry's reactions when facing the mini-bad.

Harry being as good as a kid who's been on a broom most of his life is unbelievable. Natural or not there should be some stumbling about, some kind of fear, something when Harry gets on the broom the first time to get back Neville's dropped rem...stone thing. Sorry, I suck with names. Harry being able to control a broom because his father was a natural is like saying the kids of Nascar racers can get into a Nascar racing car and have no issues even though they've never driven. Ain't gunna happen no matter how good your parent is.

Harry being given a flute by Hagrid when there's no indication Harry even plays music is too convenient when it so happens the flute is the object that stops Fluffy from attacking them. Also, what 11 year old who's never held a flute knows how to play it well enough to subdue a Cerberus? The fact two 11 year olds can do it is too neatly bowed. I would have rather one of them know a spell for putting the creature to sleep then just happen to know how to play a flute a mentor just happened to give them.

Then the school year passing so damned quickly with no real mentions of a lot of the spells they learn or how Harry's adjusting to magic life. There's not even a whole "OMFG WHAT!?" panic scene. I don't care who you are or how young you are: you see magic for the first time and you're gunna freak out for a while.

What also throws me off is some of the names. You have two main males as Harry and Ron. Normal, simple syllables, easy to pronounce. The main female? Hermione. The Hell? I'm not 100% sure I'm saying it right in my head. Why does it have so many more letters than the other two? If this is the case, shouldn't she be the hero, not Harry?

With the simplicity of Harry and Ron, we've got names like Vernon, Petunia, Hagrid, Dumbledore, Neville, and Seamus. There are other simple names like Draco and Snape but if we really wanted a contrast between the trio of heroes and the others Hermione's name should be more like Harry or Ron.

And yes, I do get some of the names not matching up because wizards/witches vs muggles but Hermione comes from a family of non-wizards. Harry's parents were both magical. Ron's whole family is magical. And yet other wizards are Albus, Severus, and Quirinus Quirrell. The HELL? I'm also leaning towards Quirrell being killed because wow, that name would've pissed me off to keep writing it over and over.

Would I read Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone again?

Yeah, probably. It is enchanting and funny.

The Negatives

Besides the aforementioned naming, the disbelief of Harry master a broom so quick, and the disbelief at times that these kids are 11: I can't think of anything. So, off we go to Amazon to see what those 1-star review said.

There are A LOT of negatives about Pottermore which is a little disturbing. Something so huge and directly connected to the author should not be giving buyers such issues. There are some translation issues which is again, bad research on someone's part. One review said the book was too long. At 309 pages, um, no, it's about average. Any shorter and it'd lose the descriptions entirely and those descriptions are what make the book magical.

One review said the characters were too stereotypical and the plot was ripped off from Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. Fair enough. I dare said reviewer to find me a book that isn't ripped off from some other book in some way though. I also dare said review to find me a book without stereotypes in any sense of the word. Stereotypes are stereotypes because in some instances they're completely true.

We've all known the preppy, know-it-all nerdy girl in school. I was one. The fat kid being the evil jerk? Yeah, there were some over-weight boys in elementary who were jerks and greedy. It does annoy me that Dudley is pictured as dark haired in the movies when it so obviously says he's blonde in the books.

Other reviews said the books were boring and like most other wizardly stories out there. JK Rowling is an average author with a typical story and that's fine. She wrote the right book at the right time for the right audience and became famous. One in a million chance and it took. I say good for her.

The concept that seems to irk most reviewers is the fact Harry lied, disobeyed rules, and did "bad guy" things to save the world. Yeah, cuz heroes can't do bad. How many times have the Avengers destroyed a city to save it? How many times have good guys kept a secret in order to save the world? We all know how horrible Dr. Greg House was but people LOVED his character and he saved people.

Also, Harry's 11. He's totally allowed to hate the people who hate him or treat him wrong. Saying he can't hate his enemies is ridiculous. Having the entire book in Harry's perspective? Uh, yeah, why not? His name's the one in the title, what did you expect? No we're not going to see Draco, or Ron or Hermione's perspective because THEY are not what the book is about. Though I am sure there was a perspective shift to Hermione when Harry almost fell off his broom in Quiddich. No way would Harry have seen Hermione going after Snape to stop him from jinx-ing Harry's broom.

I do agree with one reviewer in saying the villains all seem completely unredeemable. There's no gray-area when it comes to the villains but apparently Snape is a pretty good guy even though he's evil. Plus this is only book one so nothing is solid yet.

Final review: 2/5 for avid readers out of the age bracket. Some things were too unbelievable (flute and broom handling), the names threw me off, and the story itself was kind of, eh. Entertaining yes. There were some good one-liners and nice comic relief ("But there's no wood!" *snickers*). For intended audience and non-avid readers: 4/5.

Until next time: thoughts, comments, rages, rants, questions, and out-right insults can be directed to the comments section.

Review: Ghost Girl

Why did I pick it up?

My brain works in strange ways. I was in one of my favorite used book stores, you know the kind where the shelves are double packed and there is literally only enough room for a single person to get through? Anyway, I was walking towards the back where I knew they kept all the fantasy and sci-fi as well as some young adult. I was looking for the Cirque Du Freak novels and sitting there was Ghostgirl.

At first I didn't pay it any attention until my brain provided me with a snippet from a show called Ace of Cakes where the bakers made a cake for a special book signing of the author Tonya Hurley. They made a Charlotte cake. I picked up the book, hardcover, and decided I would check it out. Yes. Based solely on an old show I'd watched with a cake of the main character. I told you my brain works in strange ways.

The Review of Ghostgirl by Tonya Hurley:

First I want to say I started the book at 7:30AM and finished by 10:25AM, yes on the same day. No, I didn't mean to hit "PM" on 10:25. It's a short book and a light read but in no way do those points take away from its entertainment.

Charlotte is the unpopular kid at school and has decided to change it. Fate seems to be working for her until she chokes on a gummy bear and dies after becoming the tutor of her crush: Damen.

In a cliché theme: Charlotte doesn't realize she's dead. When it does hit her instead of taking it entirely negatively, she decides her new state will help her win the affections of Damen: handsome, popular football player dating the head cheerleader.

Yes, the book has a clot of clichés in it: cheerleader gets what's coming to her, the cheerleader has two best friends (a la Mean Girls) who make her clique, the cheerleader's younger sister is the Goth girl who wins over the affection of said cheerleader's popular boyfriend. Except in this case the reason Scarlet (cheerleader's younger sister) wins over the boyfriend (Damen) is because of the ghost Charlotte who has been vying for Damen's affections.

Turns out Scarlet is the only one who can see Charlotte and Charlotte uses this to her advantage. Oh, did I mention Charlotte still has to go to Dead School and learn about not interfering with the living?

It's very much a Mean Girls kind of movie where the popular people learn from their mistakes, the outcast becomes welcome, and everyone lives (or moves on) happily ever after. Connecting with Scarlet and Charlotte was easy. They seemed like real teens and had their own insecurities and problems to deal with atop of the whole Charlotte being dead issue.

I loved how at the beginning of each chapter there was a sort of mini-prologue about what Charlotte was going through. They really drove the point home and gave an insight to what had happened so far as well as giving hints to how the chapter was going to go.

In the end everything works out. Charlotte learns what she's supposed to, the school learns the outcasts aren't so different, the popular people realize the error of their ways, and everyone lives with some joy in their lives. It brought a tear to my eye when Charlotte's issues were finally resolved and resolved well and the book itself ends on happy note with everything tied in a nice bow.

Would I read it again?

Yes. It only took me three hours after all, but seriously, yes. I will definitely be reading through the mini-prologues, especially this one:

"I love you, but I'm not in love with you: This is a false distinction. Completely backward if you think about it. Love is love. What's really meant by being "in love," is obsession, addiction, infatuation, but not actual love. Being "in love" is a statement of your own needs and desires rather than an attempt to fulfill another's. True love, on the other hand, is a bridge between two people."

The Negatives:

It was a short book, again, it only took me three hours to read it and clocks in at 328 pages, at least my hardcover version does. The other thing many people tend to comment on is the lame death jokes through out the book and the characters being stereotypical, which is the same trend I noticed in The 100-year-old Man. I think a lot of people fail to realize Ghostgirl is intended as SATIRE.

Satire: a genre of literature and sometimes graphic and performing arts, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, corporations, government or society itself, into improvement.

Ghostgirl is meant to be stereotypical and ridicule the very idea of high school clicks, clichés, and romance. It's meant to have death-puns to further push the idea of the book not intending to be the next Stephen King or GRR Martin or JK Rowling novel. It's meant to poke fun at the lengths all of us go to be noticed and that's exactly what the book did, in a quirky, kind of heartfelt way.

So, if you're reading the 1-star reviews on Amazon, please remember Ghostgirl is a satire. Also remember the book is meant for people as young as 12. So yes, it is going to be focused entirely on the main characters without worry as to what their parents are doing/where their parents are because, and let's be honest, most teens don't give a crud about what their parents are thinking. And really, I didn't care where or what the parents of the main characters were doing either. You're not supposed to.

Final review: 4/5 because I wish it was a little longer. Other than there not being enough: the book was great and I enjoyed it.

Until next time: comments, questions, rants, and the like can be directed to the comments.

Review: The Long Wait For Tomorrow

Why did I pick it up?

There's this bookstore called The Book Depot that has a semi-annual book sale. Basically you pay $35 and you get a big box you can fill with as many books as you possibly can. I've gone once and I got 50 books for $35 and tax. This book was one of those books and to be honest by the time I got to the sale, there wasn't much left. The cover of The Long Wait for Tomorrow was bright enough that it caught my eye among all these other books sprawled over the table. I did like the concept so I stuck it in the box.

The Review of The Long Wait For Tomorrow by Joaquin Dorfman:

The concept: Kelly, star-football player and all around popular kid suddenly isn't Kelly anymore. The story isn't told from Kelly's perspective though, but instead from the sole perspective of his best friend Patrick who is part of the school's marching band.

For anyone who's read the typical High School cliché books you'll know marching band member + star football player DO NOT MIX. But in this instance Kelly and Patrick became friends through a car crash and remained friends even when Kelly became interested in sports and Patrick in music. Patrick is entirely aware if it wasn't for Kelly, he'd be one of the ones the football players pick on.

The other concept? Oh, time travel. You see, Kelly stops being the Kelly everyone knows because the Kelly everyone knows disappears when the Kelly from the future takes over teen Kelly's body.

All future-Kelly thinks is he's asleep in a mental institution. He can't remember why he's in the mental institution or what happened to Patrick and Kelly's girlfriend Jenna. He does remember something big is about to go down because of the school outcast. What it is, he can't remember and spends his time trying to figure out the mystery behind what might blow up.

Turns out the blow up happens anyway as Kelly was supposed to remember. There is a huge plot twist in there but obviously I'm not going to reveal it. That would be mean.

The book itself wasn't as stereotypical as some people might make it out to be. Yes there was the popular cheerleader, band-kid shadow, nerdy kid, football player, etc but you know, there are certain truths in some stereotypes or they wouldn't be stereotypes.

It was an entertaining read, especially the whole time travel concept. Would it have been better had there been input from Kelly directly? Maybe. I can see why Kelly's train of thought wasn't revealed as the mystery of a few points was able to be hidden since we're stuck in Patrick's point of view. But I would have liked to see the past through Kelly's eyes at least once.

Would I recommend it to others? Only those who are okay with time travel as shown through the eyes of young adults. It's a good read, light, funny, and sometimes serious and thought-provoking but it's not a book meant for everyone.

It can get confusing, especially when the concept behind the time travel is explained and you really don't know what's going on until you're a few chapters into the book. In the end, unless you're especially observant, you don't know why Kelly came back in the first place.

Would I read it again?

Possibly, if only to understand the concepts of its time travel a bit better.

The Negatives:

The time travel isn't really explained in simple terms. It's all theory and no one's really sure what that theory is. Sometimes the characters are a bit inconsistent and Patrick's "angels" are a little off-putting and strange.

A lot of people say the characters are too stereotypical and I repeat: uh, hello? Stereotypes are stereotypes for a reason. You won't often find a star high school football player who has the soul of an artist and wants to paint rather than play football. Will you find the star football player making fun of the nerds and dating the cheerleader? Yep. At least 75% of the time, too.

Other people have been thrown off by simultaneous plots but I find it makes things interesting. And really the only plots were Kelly's time travel, Patrick's acceptance into the school of his choice, their parents, the nerd's situation, and Jenna...okay, maybe there was a lot going on but I like books with a bit going on.

Final Review: 4/5 because the lack of explanation on the time travel and those danged angels.

Until next time: comments, questions, rants and the like can be directed to the comments.

Review: Blood is the new Black

Why did I pick it up?

I'm a sucker for anything vampire related. Pun totally intended.

Review for Blood is the New Black by Valerie Stivers:

So this book was vampires meets high fashion. The vampires were bonafide bloodsuckers who happened to run a high fashion magazine called Tasty. The dialogue was witty and there was enough explanation of the fashion world so I didn't feel like a total idiot reading it.

The nibble of romance (harhar) was expected and some of the plot points could be seen without having to think too hard. I did like how it opened with a scene from near the end of the book without revealing too much. It was enough to get me interested and the dialogue and minor mystery throughout the novel kept me going.

The ending was lackluster. There was too much untied once the story was over and the estranged mom comes to save the day was expected. When someone puts that much emphasis on a character who disappeared before the book then you know they're going to come back in a big way. It was a matter of when.

The vampires themselves had a nice twist to them. They could hover, turn into bats, drank blood, disliked garlic and crosses. But they could go out into the sun and drink other things besides blood. They were hugely business oriented and only one was dark and brooding.

The fun thing was that humans were born with a specific gene that made them more susceptible of being 'tasty' and becoming a vampire. I know it's probably logically impossible to have such a gene but it was a cool twist of sorts.

It wasn't a serious novel nor was it meant to be terrifying or blood thirsty. To be honest, I think it was a bit satirical in the way it portrayed both vampires and the fashion industry. The relationships between characters was interesting and the whole situation with the dog Marc Jacobs was freaking hilarious.

Would I read it again?

If I wanted to read a light vampire novel, sure. It's not Vampire Chronicles but it hasn't completely re-invented the vampire which is great. Would it appease those exceptionally dark minded folk? Probably not.

The Negatives:

Kate, the main character had studied to be an EMT and would be going to med school but took the job at Tasty magazine because of her aunt. That's fine, no really, it's even believable. What's not believable is how dense Kate is. She doesn't even notice the drinks she has to hand out to all the important people at Tasty are actually blood slurries even though she's supposed to be an EMT/doctor in training.

The other thing that irks me about Kate is despite the whole situation with her mother walking off, she never tried to find out why. Even when people mention her mother (fashion designer which is why Kate didn't want the job at Tasty to begin with), Kate never tries to look her up. Kate does have some of her mothers original designs and instead of seeing if they're worth anything on the market, she just randomly cuts them up and customizes them much to the horror of her associates.

Maybe Kate lacks common sense but is really logical? I don't know but it seems a bit odd someone who's supposed to be going to med school didn't do a bit of research on her mother and couldn't smell the scent of blood right under her nose. Literally.

Final review: 3/5 for it's predictability and Kate being a bit slow with the entire plot. It's still an entertaining read despite the lightness of the plot.

Until next time: comments, questions, rage and rants can be directed to the comments.

Review: The 100-Year-Old-Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared

Why did I pick it up?

So I'd been eyeing up this book in my local bookstores for about five months before actually buying it. I didn't think I'd be interested it and I'd never heard about it. But, the cover was eye catching and the concept seemed kind of cool. I finally bought the book sometime last year but never read it until I needed something to read for my (regular) doctor's appointment. I figured: eh, why not?

The Review of The 100-Year-Old-Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson:

The concept is simple: Allan Karlsson, 100 years old, climbs out his window and vanishes. The back of the book says something like "It's like Forrest Gump, if Gump was an explosives specialist." And you know what? It is to a point. Allan doesn't necessarily bond with anyone he meets like Gump did but that's Allan's attitude in general: what may be, may be.

The book isn't meant to be serious in any sense of the word. It's meant to be a light, funny, silly read and my GOD does it deliver. Allan is sarcastic, suspiciously brilliant, laid back, and plays everything by ear. Even with his "don't talk to me about politics" attitude he's surprisingly involved in every war and even arrested at one point by Stalin for giving the recipe for the atom bomb to the US. Yeah, think about that sentence for a minute.

Allan meets all the big players in history: Truman, Churchill, Sung, Einstein, and other political generals, military sergeants and the like. He's linked to solving the atom bomb problem as well as starting/ending a few major events.

The funniest thing about the novel is every time you think Allan's about to be killed for being on the wrong side of the fence, someone he's helped from before happens to be in the room and saves his ass. The guy has 100 lives and despite never having a formal plan, he ends up living to the ripe old age of 100.

This story isn't told in the linear sense. It flips between the present day of Allan's disappearance and the past experiences of his life. Both are equally hilarious because Allan's same attitude is what gets him to accidently over-haul a crime syndicate and become a virtual millionaire in the last years of his life.

I would definitely recommend this book to everyone I know. It's funny, it's got a bit of history (likely inaccurate) thrown in for fun, and both the present and past stories revolving around Allan are amazing to watch unfold.

I literally had to stop reading so I could laugh out loud, especially during the later half of the book when the present story is coming to a close and the past is catching up with the present. Allan is a great character despite his advanced age and quite accidental expertise in a variety of subjects.

The end of Allan's life (up until he went into the nursing home) was a bit sad mainly because this normally calm, whatever happens, happens character kind of loses it a bit when his first real friend/animal he cared for was killed. But, everything ends up working for Allan in the end and the book closes on a sort of cliff hanger.

Would I read The 100-Year-Old Man who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared again?

Hell yes. I didn't want to stop reading it once I got into the story.

The Negatives?

With all of the above: you will notice a bunch of 1-star reviews on Amazon about this book. Most of them talk about Allan's problem in not connecting with anyone. I can understand this. You want a character to form meaningful relationships with people but Allan doesn't. Why? Because his parents never connected to him as a child and he lost both his parents early on in life. So, he doesn't connect to anyone else for fear of losing them. He doesn't know how to connect and was never taught. No, Allan is not a normal character and if you keep that in mind you might not be disappointed with this book.

Other people called it boring. Hi, I don't like history and found it to be the most droll class I ever had to take. There are history lessons in this book (possibly inaccurate of course) but I still enjoyed it. Was it boring? Not for me and again, I hated history class and that's basically what this book is.

I think people were taking this book too seriously. It's supposed to be a kind of parody and not serious in any sense of the word. It's not meant to have a message like Forrest Gump nor is it meant to be heart-warming (or heart-breaking). This book exists for pure comedic effect. Also, when an explosions specialist is running: try to keep up.

Final review: 5/5

Until next time: comments, questions, rants, and the like can be directed to the comments.

Thick Skin

First off I'd like to apologize for randomly wandering off for a month. I tend to get involved in things like writing, self-loathing, work, depression, and life in general. I can't even say I've been working on the rest of the 2014 "Novel Series" posts because I haven't. I've got one almost ready which is book two for the year and I'm up to five books for this year.

Second I'd like to say that I've probably been suffering with some form of depression for the past ten years (or more) and sometimes it's really hard to cope with it. I can come off as okay and happy on small things like Twitter or NaNo Forum posts but most days I feel like crap. I don't want to get out of bed or when I go to sleep I wish that I won't wake up. The only way I deal with it is by writing a novel and immersing myself in a character's life because most of the time it's about as crappy (or more so) than mine.

This depression was brought on by a lot of things that I don't feel like getting into right now but one is important to this post. So, away we go.

For those of you that don't know: if you want to be a writer you have to have a thick skin. I don't have a thick skin. It's probably part of the reason I don't promote so much because I'm afraid of what people are going to think. I know that if someone thinks badly of my work that I'll start hating it myself and then I'll stop writing.

That's exactly what happened tonight. A friend asked how I was doing in the writing front so I did what I probably shouldn't do: I Googled my name. To be honest, there were a lot of good things coming up. But I found a review for one of my books that simply said "Don't bother." Never mind the same book had a "not bad" review on it. It's the "don't bother" that stings.

Now, I understand that I can't please everyone. I also understand that the book in question is four years old. I'd like to think that my writing style has improved since then. I also understand the concept behind having a thick skin.

That doesn't mean a comment like that, two (or three) simple words, doesn't sting. It hurts. It made me stop writing in the middle of chapter tonight because I thought: "Well why bother?" Then I started thinking about how even after four years and a month that I haven't made the money I spent on my books back. I started re-evaluating my whole thought process on being a writer in general: "why bother with it?" "you know no one's going to read this," "there are people out there better than you," "you don't deserve to be a writer," "you have no future," and etc.

It's a whole downward spiral that I think I'm coming out of. It would be the quickest I ever came out of one, that's for sure but it's a good thing. It means I'm developing that thick skin and not taking a bad comment to heart. I'm not bursting into tears over it and I'm not feeling like I should delete everything and never speak of this again.

No, instead I'm thinking "well, he didn't like it. Hm, why? Let's go read it. It's not that bad. Yeah, it can be improved here, and here. Okay, so he doesn't like my writing. Big deal." Other people have liked it, well, thought it was okay. I'm good with okay because if it was okay four years ago, my writing is better than okay now. Rule of averages and all that.

What I'm trying to say is that for every bad comment there are probably at least four or five that aren't so bad. If you're lucky there's only one bad comment in a hundred. But that one bad comment will be the death of you if you let it. So don't let it. I know it's hard but hey, so long as your writing pleases you and you're happy with it, who cares?

Oh, and so you know: I didn't make it to Round Two in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest. I also haven't submitted a damned thing because (if you hadn't noticed) I take rejection pretty horribly. That and I'm still on the fence about the debate of self-publishing (as unsuccessful as it's been for me) and traditional publishing. It's part of that whole self-loathing thing that only goes away when I'm putting my characters through some trial or another.

Until next time: comments, questions, rage, rants and everything in between can be directed to the comments.

So I'm back....mostly

In case you haven't noticed, I dropped off the face of the Earth for quite some time. My last post here was March 28th which is about the same for Twitter and Facebook. This is really horrible for promoting which is funny because one of my goals for 2012 was to promote more. I suck with goals, really I do.

Anyway, I'm back in a sense. I never really left to be honest. I simply did not have the motivation to promote. There I said it: I did not have the motivation to post.

Why? Well, there's a few reasons and I'm going to be completely honest, bording on blunt if you will:
1) I have no idea how to properly promote and the whole thing scares the crap out of me.
2) I'm honestly afraid of what people will say about my work.
3) I kind of became really obsessed with the 12 novels in 12 months challenge and forgot everything else.
4) I've been exceptionally depressed.

Let me explain those a bit.

1) I don't know how to promote. Sure I've read Locke's book on how to sell a million ebooks in five months. Yeah, I've read other marketing books on how to use social media to your advantage. I've never really understood it. No, that's not right. I tried and failed a few times and can't seem to pick myself back up. I'll eventually keep trying though. Plus I always feel like I'm spamming people when I talk about my stuff and I don't like spamming people.

2) I'm afraid of what people will say. There are people who have read my work and loved it. They are the reason I started this crazy journey. Then there are the people who comment with "I had to force myself to finish it." For me, that's a pretty big blow. I'll admit, I don't have a tough skin, well, not yet anyway. I mean yes, the accompanying stars on that comment was a 2 and the book does have a 3.5 star rating which is good for something that was written in one month and edited too quickly for my liking. On the same book I get the comment of "I respect this book and the way it was written. It caught my attention and had the perfect amounts of realism that made the ending all the more tragic. I loved this book that was filled with the best memories we could possibly have during the holidays.....and the most horrible..." which makes me feel great. But there's still that nagging fear of what if people don't like it. I have to work on it.

3) Ah, ha, yes. I've become obsessed with the 12 novels in 12 months challenge to the point where I've written 6 novels this year. Let me reiterate that: I've written 6 120,000 word (or more) novels this year. Actually, since March. Oddly, none of them were book 3 of Tale of the Twins which I planned to finish this year.

4) I've been depressed. Life has been horrible this year and I can't shake it at all. I'm trying to get out of the funk, really I am. But the only way I can is by writing and staying in my fantasy worlds. This does not help with promoting because it seems like everything I've done in the past two years (going on three in March) has failed and that makes me more upset. I'm kind of half happy and half sad right now reading the reviews on 'Have a Bloody Christmas' on the Nook website.

With all that being said, well, I'm kind of here. I make no promises on how often I will post but I see a scheduler for post settings so that might help. Did I mention I'm forgetful and quite unmotivated when it comes to promoting? Ha.

Anyway, I decided to come back because of the one goal for this year that I refuse to fail: National Novel Writing Month 2012. I will get 200,000 words. I will not let anything stop me.

I will also write about my insane attempts and more of what I've been doing this year in the next month. I'll also put together some blogs (probably tonight then schedule them off) on character design, plot, setting and tone.

I leave you with this quote (varied from person to person over the years): "A good author has written 1,000,000 words." Yeah? I'm 30,000 away from 2,000,000. Am I a 'good author' yet? ;) More on that later. Till then, Happy Halloween, good night and don't let the demons from Hell steal your soul.

Review-The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

So last night I watched the movie: "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" based on the book by the late Stieg Larsson. I have read the book (many months ago now) and its two sequels, just in case anyone wanted to know. And before going on, there ARE spoilers for both the book and movie in the following review.

Personally, I give the movie a B to B+. If you're like me and read the book, then watched the movie you will notice some differences between the two and be disappointed when some key points are missing in the movie.

For instance, Erika Berger is not blond (as far as I can remember). She was NOT described as looking her age at ALL. Furthering Berger and adding Blomkvist, there was absolutely NO mention of them ever being lovers or even knowing each other prior to Millennium. The first conversation she has with Blomkvist after the trial takes place JUST her and him, not with the whole newsroom.

Furthering character interactions, the conversations/thoughts showing that Armansky cares about Lisbeth do not take place at all. Armansky comes off as a boss and a boss only, not the type of person to care about the socially inept Lisbeth. They don't even go into the details of just how smart Lisbeth is or how organized she is about her work. All this comes to play in the sequels since Armansky would not have helped her in Books 2 and 3 if he didn't care about her.

The first scene with Vanger really did not make sense to anyone who had not read the book. Old man receives pressed flower, he starts crying. It doesn't go into why or how many of these pressed flowers he has until much later in the movie. Nor does the movie mention that he has called the chief of police every year a new pressed flower has arrived.

Also when Blomkvist does arrive on the Vanger scene, he's not asked to write the Chronicles of the Vanger family. He is only asked to find out what happened to Harriet. At the end of the book, Blomkvist says to Vanger that he won't write the chronicles and that he had been 'corrupted' (changed) since he cannot in good conscience write the chronicles without hurting Harriet and the Vanger Corporation. This plays a large part in why Blomkvist does what he does in the sequels. Furthermore, it is not mentioned that Lisbeth met Blomkvist prior to the email she sends him, hence why she likes him.

Going along with Lisbeth's development as a character, it is not mentioned that she got a tattoo after Bjurman raped her. Speaking of the rape (and I can understand why it wasn't in gory detail etc), the movie does not go into the fact that Lisbeth researches into why he actually did this to her. The movie does not mention that she takes the spare set of Bjurman's keys, nor does it mention she knows about his offshore accounts. It may not seem important but these facts show a lot of Lisbeth's character: her intelligence, attention to detail and, more importantly, her moral thinking. They also become a huge point in the other two books.

And a few last points, just because I don't want this to be too long and to give too much away:
There was no mention of Harriet gaining a percentage of the Vanger Company. Also, the most important bit: the movie does not go into detail of WHY Lisbeth stopped taking Blomkvist's calls.
Yes, she had fallen in love with him. So much so, that she completely cleaned her apartment (filled with year old pizza boxes, etc - also not shown). She even went out of her way to buy a Christmas present for him, something her character would not do (also not shown). When she went to deliver this present, she spotted Berger and Blomkvist together, trashed the present and decided to never see him again, which was not shown.

That last detail alone should have been important enough to include. Why? Because it becomes an integral piece of the plot (and to Lisbeth's character) in the second and third books. With all the lack of detail concerning Lisbeth's character, you really do not get her development or her actions.

The movie was good. It lacked key character development, but still good. If the viewer had not read the book, they would have rated it much higher. Don't get me wrong though, I understand a lot had to be cut out since the book is lengthy. But to cut out important development of the main female lead is cutting out a bit too much. It was saddening that I had to explain certain aspects of Lisbeth's character to those watching the movie with me who hadn't read the book. She did not come across as the genius 'researcher' that she is at all and that is a bit annoying.

In summery: the movie gets a B to B+ rating (three and a half to four out of five stars). If you haven't read the books, it will be entertaining (though a bit confusing in some places). If you have read the book, be prepared to spot the differences.

And a side note (going back on track to my own book): I'm still waiting on my own reviews. Hopefully I should get some information soon.